This article explains each product status in ChemCheck, what it means, and what actions are available to you at each stage of the product lifecycle.
01/ Introduction
Every ChemCheck product moves through a series of statuses from the moment it is created until it is visible to other organisations. Understanding what each status means — and what you can and cannot do at each stage — helps you manage your product portfolio effectively.
Certifications issued by a CB are automatically applied to your product. No action is required from you. If there is an issue with a certification, you have to contact the CB directly.
02/ The product lifecycle
Draft → Under Review → Accepted → Published
↘ Not Accepted ↓
Unpublished
03/ Status reference
Draft
A product is in Draft when it has been created, but no certification body has been assigned to it yet.
| Draft Status | |
| Visible to other organisations? | No |
| Can it be edited? | Yes — all fields, including name, classification, and local language names |
| What to do next | Assign a certification body to move the product into review. |
Under Review
A product moves to Under Review automatically as soon as a certification body is assigned to it — either at creation or via the Certificates tab on the product detail page.
| Under Review Status | |
| Visible to other organisations? | No |
| Can it be edited? | Yes (name, classification, and local language names are locked once out of Draft) |
| What to do next | Contact the certification body to notify them that the product is ready. Wait for their certification. |
Note: Assigning a certification body does not automatically notify them. Always contact the CB directly after assigning. Give them your product name and product ID.
Accepted
A product reaches Accepted status when at least one assigned certification body has certified it. If multiple CBs are assigned and some have declined while others have accepted, the product status is still Accepted — the platform uses the best outcome across all assigned CBs.
| Accepted Status | |
| Visible to other organisations? | No, not until published |
| Can it be edited? | Yes |
| What to do next | Publish the product to make it visible in search. |
Not Accepted
A product is marked Not Accepted when all assigned certification bodies have declined it, and none have accepted it.
| Not Accepted Status | |
| Visible to other organisations? | No |
| Can it be edited? | Yes |
| What to do next | Contact the certification body to understand the reason. To re-initiate a review, remove the CB's assignment and re-assign them. |
Tip: If you have multiple CBs assigned and one declines while another accepts, the product status is Accepted — not Not Accepted. Not Accepted only applies when no CB has accepted.
Published
A product reaches Published status when it has been accepted and you have toggled it to published status on the product detail page.
| Published Status | |
| Visible to other organisations? | Appears in search — detail access depends on your visibility settings |
| Can it be edited? | Yes |
| What to do next | No further action required. The product is live. |
Published products appear in the ZDHC Gateway search results for all users. However, which users can open and view the product details depends on your organisation's visibility settings. Users from organisation types that you have not enabled will see a message indicating that the product details are not available to them — they will not see your product information, MRSL levels, or SDS.
Tip: By default, Brands and Certification Bodies can view your elaborated product profile. If you want Suppliers or other organisation types to see your full product details, configure this in your ChemCheck settings. See Controlling who can see your product information.
Note: If the MRSL standard associated with your product's certification expires, the product will be automatically unpublished. See What happens when an MRSL standard expires? for more detail.
A published product can be unpublished at any time. When unpublished, it is immediately removed from search results but remains in your portfolio and can be re-published.
04/ Tips & Notes
Note: The product expiration date shown in your portfolio reflects the expiration of the active certification assigned to the product. When a certification expires, the product may be automatically unpublished if no other valid certification is in place.